Do you love or hate a cajon?

[buldog5151bass]

You mean the cajon-based drum-kit, or the assemble-your-own cajon-building kit?

Assuming the latter, I bought Thomann's cardboard one as a cheap way of trying out a cajon at home, and because the idea of being able to get one for something like €16 just seemed hilarious.
Summary: fit for the advertised purpose, startlingly robust, but not to be confused with something you'd want to perform on in public.

As for the wooden kits, the reviews can be very informative, and they vary per model.

After looking at how simple the construction actually is, I'm going to get a drum snare wire from my drummer, get some plywood, and make it myself. Should be about $30.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

I'm going to get a drum snare wire from my drummer

Old guitar strings could be used as well.

 

[Wanker_Joe]

I love 'em! A friend and I do a cajon + Bass/vocals duo. It's great! The simplicity and portability of the cajon (not to mention small foot print) really works for us. I'm always a little amazed at how many sounds my friend is able to coax from his.

 

[dalkowski]

(From what I've seen, batting gloves are the de rigeur accessory for cajonistos/cajonistas. Just sayin'.)

 

[bound'n'blocked]

The scale has yet to be devised that will measure my hate for a cajon. To me it sounds exactly like what it is: a box. I have only ever even heard one played that sounded passable. I went in a local bar that had a band on the patio out back and thought "Those guys are using a full kit tonight?", because it was usually two acoustics and "The Box". I went to take a look and it was the box, but it was a huge one. It actually had some sound to it. But other than that one time, I despise them.

BnB

 

[Spidey2112]

I love it on seafood, but not really anything else.

 

[bhendrix]

No hate for the cajon here, but absolutely does not work with the music I play. Gimme a big ole set of acoustic drums with a heavy hitter to jam with!

 

[CoffeeLove]

Or is it something in-between? I have an opinion but I first would like to hear a few of yours.

Editing to specify that I mean a cajon being used in lieu of a full drum kit. Not a cajon in the abstract.

In lieu of drums, NO. But if run through a PA system to give enough bottom end to support the bass, and the music can work with a single drum (acoustic guitar stuff), they work OK in small venues. But most of the music I play needs drums, so NO, would not take it over a drum set. Of all "single" drum choices to play with bass, the cajon would be my first choice over other percussion options.

 

[darwin-bass]

OK, I've read the thread now. More Cajon hate than love.

But I see most of y'all are coming from a full band rock background. In that context, replacing drums with cajon is like replacing lead guitar with a kazoo. I get it.

With a lighter (mellow rock?) style when the choice is no drums or cajon, I've found that a fairly simple kick / snare pattern on the cajon can be an improvement over no percussion.

 

[sawzalot]

They're fine as long as the player is good and the instrument fits the music. A cajon does not work in an arena rock band, for example. Nor does it work in an acoustic band with someone trying to play it like a full drum kit.

 

[darwin-bass]

My only complaint is most of the people I’ve actually heard play cajon in person pretty much play the same one or two beats for every song just at different tempos to match the song so for long like 3 hour gigs it can get kind of monotonous.

^ This.

Our church youth group has lead worship in the main service on occasion. They have no drums, only cajon. The player knows only one pattern. He also tends to play through the whole song. No macro or micro dynamics. It gets monotonous after 2 songs.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

It’s okay by me. I prefer a real kit, even just a snare , bass drum and cymbal, but sometimes that can’t be done. I also like a washtub bass - I was very surprised at how much that added to a little acoustic group I played with.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

A cajon is not a "drum kit". Few things worse than a drummer trying to play a cajon in place of a "drum kit". I hate that.

However, in the hands of a real cajon player, being played as a what they are, they are fantastic. A good friend of mine is a master percussionist and fabulous flamenco cajonist.

Here's my friend John with Daniel Ward. These guys grew up in Los Alamos, NM. Their dads were scientists; they chose to do music with their brain cells.

 

[Son of Wobble]

I'd get a stack and run them in series. Boom!

 

[motleyh]

Don't mean to offend anyone, but this thread might be equivalent to asking a drum forum what they think of P basses or acoustic bass guitars. I'm a couple of years into playing bass (a chance to put my old music major theory chops into use), but I've been drumming for about 6 decades, with lots of dynamics, FYI. Never had much use for a cajon until I started taking my bass to singer-songwriter jams, and now I also bring my cajon and switch off from the bass depending on the tune.

IMHO, the drumset and the cajon are two completely different animals, and each has its appropriate time and place ... and role. There are a lot of situations where a kit just isn't the right fit. Some of it has to do with the room, etc., but most of it has to do with the style and instrumentation of the music. At the same time, the cajon shouldn't be looked at as a low-volume, small-footprint "substitute drum kit" -- the sounds are completely different, the tonalities are completely different, and the technical spectrum is completely different. I do believe that it's a matter of matching the right tool to the job, and using something else just doesn't work well.

 

[acleex38]

Love 'em. After a decade of helping out with an open mic, I've dealt with good drummers and bad drummers, good cajon players and bad cajon players. But the likelihood of a cajon player being a John Bonham wannabe is a lot lower.

I like djembe too. Top personal choice is just a hi-hat & snare w/brushes.

 

[Passinwind]

I love it on seafood, but not really anything else.

Try it on a weenie sammich my friend, you might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[grimjim]

Neither really. I've played small art galleries and private shows where a full drum set wasn't allowed, or needed really. I still enjoyed playing, though it is more fun with a full miked set.

 

[dkelley]

I own and play one, sometimes, and think it's really cool. When I play drums, I also often use mine as a drum stool, so I can switch between styles pretty easily if I'm playing drums with musicians who go between acoustic and electric.

A well played cajon is great fun!

A cajon when I play it is probably annoying as hell to listen to, but it sure is fun for me to play!

 

[silky smoove]

When it's played as intended by a skilled player they're great. When they're played as a "drum substitute" by someone with no understanding of Afro-Peruvian, or at the least Latin rhythmic concepts, and the result is nothing but stand ins for a 2-4 backbeat... Yuck

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere in the thread, but Harry Miree is always good for a laugh: